Pivoted power unit for portable waste disposer



Feb. 7, 1967 B. J. BREZOSKY 3,302,894

PIVOTED POWER UNIT FOR PORTABLE WASTE DISPOSER Filed April 17, 1964 5Sheets-Sheet 2 k INVENTOR J BERNARD I BRE'ZOSKV J BY W F G. 6 msATTORNEY Feb. 7, 1967 B. J. BREZQSKY 3,302,894

PIVOTED POWER UNIT FOR PORTABLE WASTE DISPOSER Filed April 17, 1964 3Sheets-Sheet 5 PIC-11.3 11- k 79 8O 7 12. 2. 73 be es 7 78 6! if i 17 66"K AI 7s 55 INVENTOR.

BERNARD a: BREZOsKY BY g 61 HlS ATTORNEY United States Patent Ofiflce3,302,394 Patented Feb. 7, 1967 3,302,894 PIVOTED POWER UNIT FORPORTABLE WASTE DEPCSER Bernard J. Brezosky, Louisville, Ky., assignor toGeneral Electric Company, a corporation of New York Filed Apr. 17, 1964,Scr. No. 360,608 7 Claims. (Cl. 241-46) This invention relates toportable waste disposers and, more particularly, to such waste disposershaving pivoted power units.

Portable waste disposers have been made to be mounted in kitchen Sinksin position to discharge the comminuted waste into the sink drainopening. Such disposers utilize a two-part apparatus including a hopper,having a comminuting means, and a power unit for driving the comminutingmeans. In prior art devices the power unit was separable from the hopperand was removed to expose an access opening in the top of the hopper forinsertion of waste material. When removed from the hopper, the powerunits were quite often placed on kitchen counters or other surfaceswhile the user inserted waste material into the hopper. With sucharrangements the power units could be easily knocked from the cabinetsor dropped by the user and broken.

It is an object of this invention to provide a portable waste disposerin which the access opening is made available without removing the powerunit.

It is another object of this invention to provide a portable wastedisposer in which the power unit is movable on the hopper unit between awaste material loading position and a driving position.

Briefly stated in accordance with one embodiment of this invention, awaste disposer is provided which includes .a hopper provided with anaccess opening in the upper wall of the hopper through which wastematerial and water are supplied to the hopper. Comminuting means aremounted within the hopper and include a shaft extending upwardly inalignment with the access opening. A power unit, including an electricmotor, is mounted on the hopper to drive the comminuting means. A driveshaft is mounted adjacent one edge of the power unit and drivinglyconnects the top of the comminuting shaft to the rotor shaft of themotor through a gear train. The power unit is normally mounted inregistry with the access opening in the hopper so that the electricmotor may drive the comminuting shaft. The power unit is pivotable aboutthe connection between the comminuting shaft and the drive shaft to moveout of registry with the access opening and over a solid portion of theupper wall of the hopper to expose the access opening for insertion ofwaste material.

For a more complete understanding of this invention reference may be hadto the accompanying drawings in which:

FIGURE 1 is an elevational view of a portable waste disposer embodyingone form of this invention, the view being partly broken away and partlyin section for purposes of illustration;

FIGURE 2 is a plan view of the hopper unit of the embodiment of FIGURE1;

FIGURE 3 is an elevational view similar to FIGURE 1 illustrating asecond embodiment of this invention, partly broken away and partly insection to illustrate details;

FIGURE 4 is a URE 3;

FIGURE 5 is a partial elevational view of still another embodiment ofthis invention, partly broken away and partly in section for purposes ofillustration; and

FIGURE 6 is a plan view of a portable waste disposer illustratinganother embodiment of this invention.

plan view of the embodiment of FIG- Referring to FIGURES 1 and 2, thereis shown a food waste disposer comprising separable units 10 and 11, theunit 10 constituting a hopper enclosing a comminuting means while theunit 11 constitutes a power unit for driving the comminuting means. Thehopper 10 is defined by a generally upright side wall 12, a bottom wall13, and an upper wall 14. The bottom wall 13 is preferably cup-shaped,being provided with an upright s1de wall portion 15 which is nestedwithin the lower part of side wall 12 and is positioned with respect toside wall 12 by an inner circular ridge 16 formed on the inside of theside wall 12. Mounted around the outside of the side wall 12 is acombined bumper and decorative ring 17 formed of a resilient materialsuch as rubber. The walls 12 and 13 may be secured together in anysuitable way as by bonding or gluing, and ring 17 may be assembledmerely by snapping it in place.

The comminuting means is mounted within bottom wall 13. The comminutingmeans comprises a stationary shredding ring 18 which is provided withcutting surfaces 19 and a series of lower and upper apertures 20 and 21.The shredding ring is provided with an out-turned flange 22 sandwichedbetween the lower surface of ridge 16 and a seat provided in the upperedge of side wall portion 15 of bottom wall 13. The flange 22 issurrounded by a resilient gasket 23 to make the joint fluid tight.Coacting with the shredding ring is a rotatable flywheel 24 which isprovided with a pair of impellers 25 arranged so that when the flywheelis rotated they impel waste material against the shredding ring 18 tocomminute the material to a fine mass. During this operation water iscaused to flow into the hopper. The water and comminuted material flowthrough the apertures 20 and 21 and into an annular drain space 26provided between ring 18 and wall portion 15, and thence downwardly intoa drain chamber 27 under the flywheel 24. The drain chamber 27 drainsthrough openings 28 into the drain line of the sink (not shown).

In order to mount the disposer in the sink and to guide the comminutedmaterial from the openings 28 into the drain line, the bottom wall 13 isprovided with a circular resilient gasket 29, which has a diametersuficiently large that it will encompass any sink opening With which theapparatus normally will be associated.

The flywheel 24 is supported and driven by a driving shaft 30. Thisshaft is journaled in a bearing 31 provided in the central axis of thebottom wall 13. Preferably the central area 32 of the flywheel is disheddownwardly and constitutes an upper thrust bearing for the flywheelwhile the lower end of the shaft is provided with a head 33 whichconstitutes a lower thrust hearing. A flywheel retainer 32a is threadedon the shaft 30 and received in the dished area 32 of the flywheel tolock the flywheel to the shaft. The positioning of the flywheel isaccomplished by the shoulder 34 cut on shaft 30.

A comminuting chamber 35 above the flywheel is defined by the innercircular ridge 16 and the upper wall 14. The upper wall 14 seats uponthe upper edge of side wall 12 and is secured thereto in any suitableway as by bonding or gluing. The upper wall 14 includes a generally flatplate portion 36 which closes the top of side wall 12 and defines anaccess opening 37 for the introduction of waste material and water intothe hopper 10 and thence into the comminuting chamber 35 above theflywheel 24. To prevent the waste material and water from splashingoutwardly the upper wall 14 is provided with an outer upturnedperipheral flange 38.

The opening 37 is provided adjacent one side of the top wall 14 and aportion of the top wall between the opening 37 and flange 38 is slopeddownwardly, 39, to guide waste material into the hopper. in-g shaft 30extends vertically upward through 1:

as at The drivhe hopper and into alignment with the inner portion ofopening 37. The shaft is driven by the power unit 11.

The power unit includes a motor casing 40 and an interfitting gearhousing 41 which together form the casing or housing for the power unit.An electric motor 42, having a stator 43 and a rotor 44, is mounted inthe motor casing. The rotor 44 is mounted to rotate on a vertical axison a rotor shaft 45 which is received in a bearing '46 mounted in gearhousing 41. A rubber diaphragm 41a is mounted between the gear housing61 and motor casing 40 and extends inwardly into engagement with rotorshaft 45.

A drive shaft 47 is mounted in a bearing 48 adjacent the edge of gearhousing 61. Rotor shaft 45 is provided with a gear 4 9 and drive shaft47 is provided with a gear 59 which is connected to gear 49 through anintermediate gear 51. The gear 51 is mounted on a shaft 52 receivedwithin a bearing 53. Drive shaft 47 extends downwardly through a recess54 provided in gear housing 41, the recess being closed by a lip seal54a. Drive shaft 47 is provided with a hexagonal lower end 55 which isreceived in a complementary socket 56 formed in the upper end of thedriving shaft 30. Thus the rotor 44 is connected to the driving shaft 30through the rotor shaft 45, gear 49, gear 51, gear 50 and drive shaft47. When electric power is provided to the motor, the driving shaft 30will be rotated, thereby rotating shaft 39 and flywheel 24 so thatimpellers 25 may comminute any material contained within comminutingchamber 35.

In order to move power unit 11 out of registry with opening 37 so thatwaste material may be inserted into hopper It) the motor casing 40 isprovided with a handle 57. When it is desired to move the power unit theuser grasps handle 57 and pivots the power unit about driving shaft 30and drive shaft 47 in the counterclockwise direction (as viewed from topof the disposer). As the power unit 11 pivots around the drive shaft itsubstantially uncovers access opening 37 so that waste material may beinserted into the hopper. When the user desires to dispose of the wastematerial the power unit is merely pivoted in the clockwise directionuntil it is in registry with access opening 37 and electric power isthen supplied to motor 42.

In order to provide for the pivoting movement of the power unit the flatplate portion 36 of upper wall 14 is provided with an arcuate recess 58(best seen in FIGURE 2), one end of which forms the upper edge of accessopening 37. The dashed lines 59 and 60', in FIGURE 2, show the twoextreme positions of the outer periphery of power unit 11, the line 59showing the comminuting or grinding position and the line 60 showing theloading position. Thus it will be seen that when the power unit 11 ispivoted in the counterclockwise direction to uncover the access opening47 it does not uncover the entire opening since it pivots about drivingshaft 30 which is in alignment with a portion of opening 37. Whenelectric power is provided to motor 42 the direction of rotation ofrotor 44 is such as to cause the power unit 11 to attempt to precess inthe clockwise direction; however, gear housing 41 engages the edge ofarcuate recess 58 and retains the power unit in registry with accessopening 37.

Referring now to FIGURES 3 and 4 there is shown another embodiment ofthe invention. This embodiment includes a hopper Ill and a cooperatingpower unit 11. The hopper of FIGURE 3 is substantially the same as thehopper of FIGURE 1, including a side wall 12, a bottom wall 13 andcircular resilient gasket 29. An upper wall 61 seats on the upper edgeof the side wall 12 and is secured to it in any suitable way as bybonding or gluing. The upper wall includes a plate portion 62 extendinginwardly and downwardly in the top of the hopper in a generallyfunnel-like form. The inner edge of the plate portion 62 defines arelatively large opening 63. This opening 63 constitutes an accessopening for an introduction of waste material and water into the hopperand the comminuting chamber 35. To prevent water and waste material fromsplashing outwardly, the upper wall is provided with an outer, upturnedperipheral flange 64.

The shaft 3i extends vertically upwardly through the hopper and intoopening 63. This shaft is driven by the power unit 11. The power unitincludes a cylindrical motor casing 65 enclosing a motor (not shown)having a rotor (not shown) mounted to rotate on a vertical axis. Therotor drives a rotor shaft 66 which, in turn, drives an output driveshaft 67 through a gear reduction train comprising gears 68, 69, 70 and71, the latter being formed as a part of the output drive shaft 67. Agear housing 72 is attached to the lower end of motor casing 65 andhouses the reduction gear train and journals the output drive shaft 67.The gear housing has a body portion '73 of a slightly smaller diameterthan the lower end of motor casing 65 and a lower flange 74 having alarger diameter than the body portion 73. The gear housing 72 and motorcasing 65 together form an integral casing for power unit 11'.

Power unit 11' is arranged to seat in an operating position in registrywith access opening 63, in which position a driving connection isautomatically effected between output drive shaft 67 and driving shaft30 to rotate the flywheel. This connection is accomplished by thehexagonal upper end of driving shaft 30' which is received in acomplementary shaped socket 75 formed in the output drive shaft 67. Thesocket 75 is somewhat larger than hexagonal end 55 in order to providefor misalignment between the axes of shafts 67 and 30 within narrowlimits.

For moving the power unit 11' into and out of registry with accessopening 63 a collar 76 is provided around the smaller diameter bodyportion 73 of gear housing 72 so that the gear housing may slide withinthe collar with the lower end of motor casing 65 and the flange 74serving as stops. The collar 76 is formed with a hinge member 77 whichis connected by a pin 78 to a similar hinge member 79 formed in upperwall 61 so that the collar 76 will pivot about hinge member 79. Ahousing 80 is positioned on the upper wall 61 opposite hinge member 78and encloses a manually operable latch member 81. A spring 82 is mountedwithin the housing 80 and biases the latch member toward the collar 76,which is formed with a recess 83 to receive the end of latch member 81.This forms a latching arrangement to hold power unit 11' in registrywith access opening 63.

When it is desired to move the power unit 11' from the operatingposition (shown in FIGURE 3), the latch member 81 is manually movedagainst spring 82 to retract it from recess 83, then the power unit 11is pulled longitudinally upwardly within collar 76 until flange 74 engages the collar. At this point shaft 67 has been disconnected fromshaft 30 and the power unit 11 may be provided in a clockwise directionabout hinge member 75 to uncover access opening 63. When it is desiredto operate the disposer, power unit 11', including collar 7 6 is pivotedin a counterclockwise direction about hinge member 79 until recess 83 incollar 76 engages latch member 81. Power unit 11 then is moveddownwardly within collar 76 until the lower end of the motor casing 65engages the collar. At this point hexagonal end 55 of driving shaft 30engages socket 75 of drive shaft 67, properly connecting power unit 11to the flywheel for comminuting waste material.

Referring now to FIGURE 5 there is shown a modified latching arrangementfor use with the embodiment of FIGURES 3 and 4. A housing 84 is providedalong one portion of motor casing 65 and includes a longitudinal recess85. An elongated, resilient arm 86 is mounted in the recess 85 and itsupper end is received in push button 87. The lower end of arm 86 isformed into a tab 88 which projects through an opening 89 in the outerwall of housing 84 and engages a hook portion 90 formed on the plateportion 62 on the upper wall 6 1. Adjacent push button 87 arm 86 isformed into a spring 91 which is mounted between a shoulder 92 formed inhousing 84 and push button 8'7 to bias the arm to its upper position sothat tab 88 engages hook portion 90. When it is desired to remove thepower unit from registry with opening 63 push button 87 is depressed;this moves tab 88 downwardly so that it is carnmed inwardly by the edge93 of housing 84 engaging the angled portion 88a of tab 88. The tab 88is thereby removed from engagement with hook portion 9t and the powerunit is released for vertical movement.

Referring now to FIGURE 6 there is shown another embodiment of thisinvention in which the hopper unit is similar to that shown in FIGURES 3and 4. The changes involve a modified arrangement for mounting the powerunit 11 for pivotal movement. The collar 76, which is mounted about thegear housing, is formed with a horizontally extending ear 93 having avertical opening 94 therethrough. A stud 95 extends through the opening94!- and is mounted in plate portion 62 of upper wall 61'. The plateportion 62 is formed with an arcuate recess d6 one end of whichintersects the access opening through plate portion 62'. Thus, when itis desired to move power unit 11 out of registry with the access openingthe latch member $1 is removed from a recess 83 formed in collar 76.Then the power unit is lifted vertically within the collar and pivotedabout stud 95 in the clockwise direction, the lower end of the powerunit being received in recess $6. When it is desired to return the powerunit into registry with the access opening in plate portion 62, thepower unit is rotated about stud 9 5 until latch member till engages inslot 83 in collar 76', then the motor casing 65 and gear housing 72 aremoved longitudinally downwardly within collar '76 until the lower end ofmotor casing 65 engages the collar.

It may be desirable under certain circumstances to provide means toallow rotation of the power unit within either collar '76 or collar '76to overcome possible angular misalignment between the hexagonal end 55and the hexagonal socket 56. This is not absolutely necessary, however,since one may manually rotate shaft 30 to align end 55 and socket 56prior to pivoting the power unit toward engagement with the comminutingmeans.

Although I have shown and described specific embodiments of myinvention, I do not desire my invention to be limited to the particularconstructions shown, and I intend by the appended claims to cover allmodifications within the true spirit and scope of my invention.

What I claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent of the UnitedStates is:

1. A portable waste disposer for use in a kitchen sink comprising:

(a) a housing forming a hopper,

(b) said housing including a wall defining an access opening forreceiving waste material, said opening being positioned adjacent oneedge of said upper well, said upper wall further defining a recesscommunicating with said access opening,

(0) waste material comminuting means within said hopper including arotatable impeller having a first drive shaft extending upwardly inalignment with the inner portion of said access opening, and

(d) a power unit including a casing enclosing a motor, said power unitfurther including a second drive shaft driven by said motor and engagingsaid first shaft,

(c) said power unit being rotatable about said first drive shaft intosaid recess to expose a substantial portion of said access opening forpermitting introduction of waste material into said hopper,

(f) said power unit further being rotatable about said first drive shaftinto registry with said access opening for driving said first driveshaft to comminute the waste material.

2. A portable waste disposer for use in a kitchen sink comprising:

(a) a housing forming a hopper,

(b) said housing including an upper wall defining an access opening forreceiving 'waste material,

(c) waste material comminuting means within said hopper including arotatable impeller having a first drive shaft extending upwardly inalignment with said access opening,

(d) a power unit including a motor and a second drive shaft driven bysaid motor,

(e) means for hingedly mounting said power unit on said upper wall forpivotal movement of said unit into and out of registry with said accessopening,

(it) said second shaftdrivingly engaging said first shaft when saidpower unit is in registry with said access opening to effect comminutionof waste material, and

(g) a spring-biased latching arrangement for releasably securing saidpower unit in registry with said access opening.

3. A portable waste disposer for use in a kitchen sink comprising:

(a) a housing forming a hopper,

(b) said housing including an upper wall defining an access opening forreceiving waste material,

(c) waste material comminuting means within said hopper including arotatable impeller having a first drive shaft extending upwardly withinsaid chamber in alignment with said access opening,

(d) a power unit including a casing enclosing a motor, said power unitfurther including a second drive shaft driven by said motor and engagingsaid first shaft,

(c) said power unit further including a collar mounted around saidcasing with a sliding fit, a hinge supporting said collar for pivotalmovement on said upper wall,

(f) said casing being longitudinally movable a predeterminated distancein a first direction within said collar to disengage said second shaftfrom said first shaft,

(g) said power unit then being pivotally movable in a first directionabout said hinge to expose said access opening for permittingintroduction of waste material into said hopper, and

(h) said power unit being pivotally movable in a second direction aboutsaid hinge, said casing then being longitudinally movable apredetermined distance in a second direction within said collar toengage said second shaft with said first shaft to drive said first shaftto effect comminution of waste material.

4-. A portable waste disposer as described in claim 3 wherein aspring-biased plunger is mounted on said upper wall and said collarincludes a recess to receive said plunger for releasably securing saidpower unit in regisry with said access opening.

5. A portable waste disposer as described in claim 3 wherein said upperwall includes a hook portion and a spring-biased latch is mounted insaid casing for cooperation with said hook portion to releasably securesaid power unit in registery with said access opening.

6. A portable waste disposer for use in a kitchen sink comprising:

(a) a housing forming a hopper,

(b) said housing including an upper wall defining an access opening forreceiving waste material, said upper wall further defining a recesscommunicating with said access opening,

(0) waste material comminuting means within said hopper including arotatable impeller having a first drive shaft extending upwardly inalignment with said access opening,

(d) a power unit including a casing enclosing a motor, said power unitfurther including a second drive shaft driven by said motor and engagingsaid first shaft,

(e) said power unit further including a collar mounted around saidcasing with a sliding fit, said collar including a projecting ear havingan opening therethrough, and

(f) a stud mounted in said upper Wall and received in said opening insaid ear for pivotal movement of said power unit about a vertical axisinto and out of registery with said access opening,

(g) said casing being longitudinally movable a predetermined distancewithin said collar to disengage said second shaft from said first shaft,said power unit then being pivotally movable about said stud from saidaccess opening into registery with said recess to expose said accessopening for introducing waste material into said hopper,

(h) said power unit being pivotally movable about said stud from saidrecess into registery with said access opening, said casing then beinglongitudinally movable a predetermined distance within said collar toengage said second shaft with said first shaft to drive said first shaftfor comminuting the waste material.

7. A portable waste disposer as described in claim 6 wherein aspring-biased plunger is mounted on said upper Wall and said collarincludes a recess to receive said plunger for releasably securing saidpower unit in registry with said access opening.

References tilted by the Examiner UNITED STATES PATENTS 856,295 6/1907Prindle 146-68 1,158,591 11/1915 Obelaker 259122 1,602,060 10/1926 White259122 X 2,973,187 2/1961 Wehrner 259122 X 3,048,340 8/1962 Vernon241100 X 3,166,255 1/1965 Spingler 146-68 X References Cited by theApplicant UNITED STATES PATENTS 3,071,329 1/1963 Shell et al. 3,094,2916/1963 Lindstrom et al.

WILLIAM W. DYER, 31s., Primary Examiner.

ROBERT C. RIORDON, Examiner.

H. F. PEPPER, Assistant Examiner.

2. A PORTABLE WASTE DISPOSER FOR USE IN A KITCHEN SINK COMPRISING: (A) AHOUSING FORMING A HOPPER, (B) SAID HOUSING INCLUDING AN UPPER WALLDEFINING AN ACCESS OPENING FOR RECEIVING WASTE MATERIAL, (C) WASTEMATERIAL COMMINUTING MEANS WITHIN SAID HOPPER INCLUDING A ROTATABLEIMPELLER HAVING A FIRST DRIVE SHAFT EXTENDING UPWARDLY IN ALIGNMENT WITHSAID ACCESS OPENING, (D) A POWER UNIT INCLUDING A MOTOR AND A SECONDDRIVE SHAFT DRIVEN BY SAID MOTOR, (E) MEANS FOR HINGEDLY MOUNTING SAIDPOWER UNIT ON SAID UPPER WALL FOR PIVOTAL MOVEMENT OF SAID UNIT INTO ANDOUT OF REGISTRY WITH SAID ACCESS OPENING, (F) SAID SECOND SHAFTDRIVINGLY ENGAGING SAID FIRST SHAFT WHEN SAID POWER UNIT IS IN REGISTRYWITH SAID ACCESS OPENING TO EFFECT COMMINUTION OF WASTE MATERIAL, AND(G) A SPRING-BIASED LATCHING ARRANGEMENT FOR RELEASABLY SECURING SAIDPOWER UNIT IN REGISTRY WITH SAID ACCESS OPENING.